Fulfilled Lives: Life Skills and Mental Health Support for Brixton's Young People

Total Amount Requested: £50,000

Our project, Fulfilled Lives, is a complete support programme for young people, run from The Factory Brixton, our newly established, black-led community hub. We will fight the mental health crisis by changing our approach: instead of treating symptoms, we help young people build complete, resilient lives using our unique Fulfilment Framework—a clear roadmap for mastering life skills and emotional wellbeing.

About Create Foundation: Create Foundation is youth development organisation based in Brixton. We build infrastructure that helps young people lead fulfilled lives. The Factory Brixton is our hub, providing a community base and resources through our network of black-led social enterprises.

What will your project deliver?

We will run an intensive and bespoke 12-month programme for 30 young people. We provide long-term, reliable support through a dedicated Youth Support Worker, who offers one-to-one sessions and connects young people to vital services right here at the Factory: mental health support from Black Psychotherapy, food and healthy eating skills from Katakata CIC, and onsite work experience through creative projects to name but a few.

• Key Target: Every young person gets at least 40 hours of group workshops and 12 hours of one-to-one coaching.
• Mental Health Goal: We aim for a 30% increase in how well young people feel.
• Life Skills Goal: 80% of participants will leave with a financial plan or be in work, education, or training, after certified money management and job readiness workshops.

Which group(s) is your project intended to support?

We support Black and other minoritised young people aged 16-25 in Lambeth who are facing multiple challenges. This includes young people dealing with the criminal justice system, care leavers, and those in poverty. These young people often don't trust traditional services because of the unfair treatment they've faced. Our safe, easy-to-access hub is designed to welcome them and build trust.

What difference will it make?

Our project provides the reliable help that is currently missing. It prevents mental health problems from getting worse while people wait for official services, pulling them back from despair. Young people will learn practical life skills (like managing money and knowing their rights) to help address some of biggest causes of stress and anxiety: poverty and housing worries. Our Factory Brixton site will enable them to build healthy relationships and habits in a space that is safe and culturally competent. Importantly it will help us to build an evidence base for our service and its impact.

How will this funding help your community?

This funding is essential as it supports the cost of our team, personalisation costs for young people and will help us widen our provision following our successful pilot programme. This will allow us to build on the things that have worked, namely accessible and flexible support that meets young people where they are at. It guarantees the long-term, one-to-one support that young people desperately need—the exact opposite of the quick, fragmented support that often fails them. The funding directly supports a systems change approach that tackles the deep, structural problems that reproduce poor mental outcomes.

Why do you think your project will be a success?

We are confident in our success because: 1) We offer trusted support, designed by and for our community. We piloted this approach before and want to support more young people. 2) Our focus is on real-life results, using our Fulfilment Framework to measure stability in areas like money, housing, and confidence—not just clinical diagnoses. 3) The Factory Brixton is unique as a black-led space in central Brixton pulling together experts with a shared desire to positive impact young people.